As expected, Governor McAuliffe signed all six bills that made up the “deal” today.

Virginia will begin to honor the permits from all states that issue permits starting July 1.

Details as to the status of the current reciprocity cut-off-date of March 1st will be shared with you once we find out. I expect the cut-off date to either be rescinded altogether or to be moved out to July 1.

Today, Governor Terry McAuliffe announced his veto of House Bill 1096, legislation that would prohibit any state entity from adopting or enforcing any rule, regulation, policy, or administrative action governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combinations thereof unless expressly authorized by statute. HB 1096 would also invalidate any such rule, regulation, policy, or administrative action adopted by a state entity prior to July 1, 2016. This self-defense legislation was an important response to the Governor’s Executive Order 50, which banned firearms in many state buildings and denied citizens their right to self-defense on that property.

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A "CHP" slip should be thought of as an embarrassment, an infringement to a free person."~ Alan Korwin

HB 382, Delegate Fowler, allows state-agency employees to have a loaded gun locked in their private vehicles while at work. This is the same thing that was successfully done for local government employees some years ago. This bill passed close to veto proof.

HB 1096, Delegate Webert, state-agency preemption, prevents state-agencies from regulating firearms or ammunition without express authority from the General Assembly. This would have undone the gun ban that the Governor created for state agencies back in November.ACTION ITEM - LET’S GO FOR A VETO OVERRIDE! WE CAN DO IT IF GUN OWNERS WILL STAND AND FIGHT.

The General Assembly will meet on April 20th to attempt to override vetoes.

Those of you in DEMOCRAT districts - we especially need your help for the overrides.

Alana Austin, with NBC 29 in Charlottesville, just did a great story about the VCDL Alert on McAuliffe’s state-agency gun-ban that went out earlier this week.

I was interviewed, but more importantly, so were Senator Tom Garrett (who has a great quote about the “bully pulpit") and a spokesman for the Governor’s office, Brian Coy.

Mr. Coy confirmed what was said in yesterday’s alert: a person carrying in a state-agency building can be asked to leave the building by an authorized state agency employee. Refusal to do so could then lead to a trespass charge.

Ultimately, Van Cleave and the governor's office confirmed Friday for those who disregard the firearms ban, they're at risk of trespassing, but not a gun crime.

"I just felt people should know that. They can make up their own decisions but you're not being a criminal you can decide for yourself what you want to do," said Van Cleave.

Brian Coy, the governor’s spokesperson, affirmed the order is a policy and if a gun owner is asked to leave at one of these locations, the punishment would be trespassing.

"If you enter a facility that's under the purview of this order, you'll be asked to leave or you'll deny entry. If you're respectful, that should be the end of the story," said Coy.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed a bill this year that would have undone the governor's order; however, McAuliffe vetoed that measure.

"I think that this is the governor kind of using his bully pulpit to be a bully. Law-abiding gun owners are the ones who have the concealed carry permits anyway. That's 400,000 Virginians and they manage to go in and out of ABC stores and DMVs across Virginia for the last 50 years without any incident," said 22nd District Senator Tom Garrett Jr. (R).

Van Cleave says one of his ongoing concerns is that common criminals or terrorists now know firearms are restricted at these sites, and one could become a target.

-------------------------------------------***************************************************************************VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organizationdedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

A hearing to gather comments will be held on August 31, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Pocahontas Building located at 900 E, Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219. Seating/access will be provided on a first-come basis. Anyone who wishes to speak at the public hearing must sign up at the event. Sign-up begins at 9:00 a.m., and speakers will be called in the order in which they signed up. There is no pre-registration. All speakers are limited to two minutes. All persons and bags are subject to search prior to entering the auditorium. No signage will be allowed.

Late last year Governor McAuliffe put into effect an "emergency" ban on the carry of firearms in state agency buildings (DMV, ABC stores, etc.), banning even those with CHPs.

What was the emergency situation that the ban was addressing? There was none. When was the last time you heard of a shooting in a state agency building? When was the last time you heard about one of Virginia's 421,000 CHP holders committing a violent crime?

Everything the Governor does is based on politics and its associated rhetoric. The state-agency gun-ban is just another example of McAuliffe putting politics over the SAFETY and RIGHTS of Virginia's citizens!

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AGREED WITH VCDL AND TRIED TO STOP THE BAN

VCDL urged the General Assembly to clarify that state agencies cannot have any kind of gun ban without the permission of the General Assembly. Delegate Mike Webert put in HB 1096, a state-agency preemption bill, to do just that. The bill passed the House by 65 to 33 and the Senate by 21 to 17, but did not become law because McAuliffe showed his disdain for the General Assembly and gun owners by vetoing it.

THE PERMANENT VERSION OF THE GUN BAN HAS A HEARING ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31ST

Emergency regulations cannot be in force forever; they have to be replaced with a "permanent" version.

Your written requests for a public hearing on the emergency regulation earlier this year worked! That's why the Commonwealth is having a public hearing on the permanent regulation.

The hearing is next Wednesday, August 31, from 10 AM to noon at:

Pocahantas Building (a block south of Capitol Square)900 E. Main Street (northwest corner of 10th and Main)Richmond, VA

**Carry is NOT allowed, with everyone having to go through metal detectors (McAuliffe, always the hypocrite, sure likes HIS security, doesn't he?)**

ACTION ITEM #1: I REFUSE TO ROLL OVER! WE WILL FIGHT FOR EVERY INCH OF GROUND. LET'S **PACK** THE MEETING ROOM ON WEDNESDAY!

This is a hearing, so everyone who wants to speak will be allowed to do so. There is a sign-up sheet, with names called in the order they are on the sheet. You will have two minutes to speak. No signs are allowed, but VCDL GSL stickers will be available.

You can simply say, "I oppose this regulation." If you wish to say more than that, here are some talking points:

1. Where is the problem this is supposed to solve? There have been no shootings in Virginia state agency buildings and the ban on concealed carry is even more unreasonable, as CHP holders are the most law-abiding group of citizens in the Commonwealth.

2. The Governor has no direct authority from the General Assembly to ban guns in state agency buildings. To that end, this year the General Assembly passed a bill clarifying that the Governor cannot do any type of gun control without the express permission of the General Assembly. The only reason that bill did not become law is that the Governor vetoed it! This action ignores the will of the People, as expressed through their elected representatives in the General Assembly.

3. Since 1960, all but two of the public mass-shootings have been in gun-free-zones, like this regulation creates. This would make state-agency buildings in Virginia less secure, not more secure!

ACTION ITEM #2: WE ALL NEED TO COMMENT ON THE PERMANENT BAN

Click here to leave your written comment opposing the permanent regulation (my comment is the first one on the list). The title should clearly state that you oppose the regulation:

-------------------------------------------***************************************************************************VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organizationdedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right toKeep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

At the hearing on Wednesday, three people spoke in favor of banning guns in state agencies, and everyone else (over 30 speakers and many others who chose to attend, but not to actually speak) opposed the measure.

The response online has been overwhelming - 98% of the comments oppose the ban and a mere 2% support it. When something is that lopsided, the game should pretty much be over. But, of course, the Department of General Services (DGS) and the Governor will probably ignore that massive elephant it the room. And we will not go quietly into the night.

As more and more people comment on the proposal, (commenting continues for another month or so) DGS and the Governor will look more foolish and tyrannical by ignoring the will of the People and the will of the General Assembly.

Gun owners adding their comments in opposition to this travesty needs to continue, as it will make getting the ban removed at the General Assembly level and/or by a future governor much easier.

Virginia State Senator Tom Garrett, who is running for Congress, challenged DGS to show a single case where a permit holder in Virginia or anywhere else in America has shot up a government office.

I want to thank member George Reynolds, who went through over 2 thousand comments and pulled together the statistics I used in my comments. Also thanks to member David Dick for his guidance state-agency public-comment protocols.

Here is coverage:

This article is excellent and confirms, yet again, what VCDL has been saying. If a CHP holder carries into a state agency, it is NOT a violation of law, but is merely breaking the Governor's POLICY. If the CHP holder's gun is seen (shame on them), then they may be asked to leave. If they refuse to leave, they can then be charged with trespass.

We need those of you **who have not yet** commented against the Governor's state-agency gun-ban, to do so on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall webpage!

The antis are continuing to submit comments supporting the ban, narrowing our lead (around 2,500 gun owners have comments opposing, but there are 28,000 of you on this email list alone - so we need to rest to step up to the plate).

EVEN IF THE GOVERNOR GOES AHEAD WITH HIS PERMANENT BAN, VCDL PLANS ON USING THE DISPARITY IN COMMENTS TO HELP PUSH THROUGH A STATE AGENCY PREEMPTION BILL IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. That would solve this issue and others in one-fell-swoop.

Let's make sure that disparity in comments continues to be huge - please add your comment if you haven't done so yet. Pass this email on to gun-oriented chat groups and to anyone else who should be with us on this issue.

I have a recommendation. How about we all support the Convention of States project and recommend that the small portion of the 2nd Amendment that happens to be slightly and indecisively ambiguous, gets a clarifying instruction to future lawmakers that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed really means, not in any way. No room for thought, no types of restriction, no questions asked, no qualifications, no changes, no improvements and if any future lawmaker attempts to corrupt the new language, you go to Prison with a Capital "P"! It is time we use this geneous opportunity given to us as a gift from the framers by an Article 5 movement to take the governments hands off of our 2nd Amendment rights for ever! ...and let's put some real thought into getting the 1934 mg ban removed, the 1968, and so on. Also, we can improve a few other overreaches as well while we are at it! Go Convention of States Project!